I've been going to the NYC.rb meetups whilst I've been here and they do something similar. It's not a pass a microphone round discussion but it's a 10-20min section for lightning talks, announcements, something cool you've seen or been working on. Occasionally people will hook up to the projector in order to demo something but its generally just letting folk know about things. Its usually the most useful part of the night, there's a load of gems, scripts, plugins etc that don't warrant full blown talks but people want to shout about.<div>
It's at the start of the night here but I can't see it making much difference either way.<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/7/16 Taryn East <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:teast@globalpersonals.co.uk">teast@globalpersonals.co.uk</a>></span><br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">Hi Murray,<br>didn't you say we were trying to find something to fill up the time? ;)<br><br>seriously, though. I'm of the opinion that this would only really work at the begining of the night - everyone's fresh and fired-up and wants to chat about what they've seen recently.<br>
It's also a good way to fire people up if they're a bit zonked after a day of hard slog.<br><br>Yes, it does mean you need to be strict about the time - cut people off* if they're taking too long and cut everyone off when the 15min are done - thus it becomes a bit like a stand-up meeting... everyone knows time is limited and goes fast (or learns fast...) ;)<br>
<br>As to people missing out... yes of course (and I'm probably one of the ones that will miss the beginning frequently due to distance). But in one way that is actually a benefit... this is something that's not a scheduled talk that can go at the front that people won't be as upset about missing out on.<br>
It's also a good way to fill in the empty space at the beginning while speakers are setting up.<br><br>My vote is for it at the beginning. ;)<br><br>Cheers,<br>Taryn<br><br><br>* with the message that this discussion can be moved "off-line" to the bar afterwards, of course... or even suggested as a talk for a future meeting.<br>
<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/7/16 Murray Steele <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:murray.steele@gmail.com" target="_blank">murray.steele@gmail.com</a>></span><div><div></div><div class="h5"><br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex">
Good idea Taryn, let's try it out. <br><br>However, I think it makes sense to do it at the end of the meeting instead of the start. Mostly so that it doesn't eat into the time for the talks, which it easily could if the discussion gets interesting. The room rental is fairly strict and we have to be out by 8pm, and I'd rather cut the "free for all" short as it can spill out into the pub or mailing list, but there's nowhere for the talks can't. Also there's usually a handful of folk that don't make it right at the start and they shouldn't miss out on this. Giving them the benefit of the doubt, they were probably staying late at work because they were so excited about some new gem! <br>
<br>How does that sound?<br><br>Muz<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">2009/7/16 James Adam <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:james@lazyatom.com" target="_blank">james@lazyatom.com</a>></span><div><div></div><div>
<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left:1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204);margin:0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex;padding-left:1ex">
2009/7/16 Martin <<a href="mailto:mtsbtt@googlemail.com" target="_blank">mtsbtt@googlemail.com</a>>:<br>
<div>> To expand on my +1..<br>
> I think this is good idea as<br>
> it means you get to find out about more stuff that is going on and useful<br>
> tools/libs that might be worth using.<br>
> There is usually only so much time in the pub afterwards and it's not always<br>
> possible to get to chat to everyone so having it upfront like this should<br>
> lead to a greater sharing of knowledge.<br>
<br>
</div>One concern with this kind of discussion is that it's very easy for it<br>
to become sidelined into a particular topic, or dominated by a select<br>
few people. This is normally because people are passionate, and<br>
there's nothing inherently wrong with that, but it can result in a<br>
less interesting conversation for other people.<br>
<br>
So, if we were to try this out, I'd ask everyone to be respectful with<br>
regards to involving other people in the conversation and encouraging<br>
topics of discussion beyond their particular gripe-du-jour.<br>
<br>
Reading back, that sounds a bit cynical, but please don't take it that<br>
way. I would love to try this out.<br>
<br>
Errrrrrmmmm....I mean, +1.<br>
<br>
:P<br>
<font color="#888888"><br>
James<br>
</font><div><div></div><div>_______________________________________________<br>
Chat mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Chat@lists.lrug.org" target="_blank">Chat@lists.lrug.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.lrug.org/listinfo.cgi/chat-lrug.org" target="_blank">http://lists.lrug.org/listinfo.cgi/chat-lrug.org</a><br>
</div></div></blockquote></div></div></div><br>
<br>_______________________________________________<br>
Chat mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Chat@lists.lrug.org" target="_blank">Chat@lists.lrug.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.lrug.org/listinfo.cgi/chat-lrug.org" target="_blank">http://lists.lrug.org/listinfo.cgi/chat-lrug.org</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div></div></div><br>
<br>_______________________________________________<br>
Chat mailing list<br>
<a href="mailto:Chat@lists.lrug.org">Chat@lists.lrug.org</a><br>
<a href="http://lists.lrug.org/listinfo.cgi/chat-lrug.org" target="_blank">http://lists.lrug.org/listinfo.cgi/chat-lrug.org</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br></div>